Page 68 of A Second Chance Summer in Dublin
I don’t let him finish. ‘Look, Belinda,’ I say, turning to her. ‘I did tell him .?.?. it’s not what it seems, I did tell him about Logan. I wanted someone to come to the party with me so I didn’t have to face Logan alone, but that was all before I got to know Donal .?.?.’
‘I can’t look at ya, hun.’ She turns away from me, so I turn back to Donal.
‘Daniella already broke his heart – he doesn’t need it broken again.’ Kathleen says.
I remember our conversation, but Donal called his ex Ella, said his sister was there when she broke up with him in Wagamama .?.?.Oh God, I think. I told the Kearney sisters about still being in love with my ex. What was it I had said to Belinda?‘We never get over our first loves.’
‘Gracie, what the hell is all this? Are you coming with me or not?’ Logan pipes up again. My first love. I’m pretty mortified that he’s hearing all this.
I look at him and frown. ‘How did you find me here?’
‘I rushed over to our flat first thing. I .?.?. I remembered I still had my key .?.?. Mia was there, she said you’d just left in a taxi. She wouldn’t tell me where .?.?.’ Logan pauses, takes a dramatic breath, eyeballs his attentive audience like he’s delivering a monologue on stage. ‘Then I saw the address 141 Stella Gardens scribbled on the piece of paper on the kitchen table. I ran all the way to Ringsend and a neighbour gave me the name of the church.’ He’s using the slow-speed technique, voice getting faster. ‘It took a lot to track you down, to do what I did in there! I proposed in public, for crying out loud.Thattook courage.’ Logan drops his head into his hands, drags his fingers through his hair. ‘Look, enough!’ He throws his hand above his head, slowly lowers it. ‘I’ve said my piece. So what’s it to be?’ He’s also had enough, I can tell. Didn’t take long.
‘Jaysus, were ya selling tickets to that show?’ Denise says, after a long pause where we are all just staring at Logan.
Before I can say anything, Donal takes a long stride towards me. I can hardly believe how gorgeous he looks in the sharp black suit, with the tight haircut and a clean shave. Amanda reads my mind.
‘Bet ya wouldn’t need to be desperate now! He looks like Bradley bleedin’ Cooper!’
‘That’s it! Bradley C.!’ Kathleen calls out. ‘Super guy, can do one of the best cat cows I’ve ever seen on the mat.’
‘He’s not a ginge,’ Amanda says shaking her head.
Donal shrugs at his sisters. ‘Enough, girls, c’mon now. Grace, what do you want to do?’ he asks me calmly. ‘Do whatever it isyouwant to do. Do you want to go home with Logan?’
‘No,’ I say, my lip quivering. I pull at the string on my turquoise wraparound dress.
‘No?!’ Logan fires the word at me like a bullet leaving his mouth.
Donal ignores him. ‘Do you want me to call you a cab?’ he asks.
I stay focused on him.
‘No, I don’t,’ I tell him.
‘So you’re the same guy from Mia’s party?’ Logan looks Donal over. ‘Christ, dude, you look so fucking different cleaned up. You’re like aQueer Eye for the Straight Guymakeover.’
‘How does he know Peter R.?’ Belinda, confused, fires the question at all of us.
‘He’s the ex, Belinda! Keep up! The one she was kissing last night!’ Denise blurts out. ‘Do ya need me to draw you a bibliography?’
‘Who’d ya think he was? A member of Westlife?’ Amanda fires in.
‘I was NOT kissing Logan, Denise.’ I turn to look at the four sisters now, still gobsmacked that Donal is their brother – the kind man who gave up everything to take care of them when he was a boy. As if I didn’t have reason enough to love him already.
I feel dizzy, but I have to make this all okay. I have to make them listen.
Chapter Thirty-Four
‘That’s not what Peter R. told us,’ Kathleen chirps in. ‘He definitely saw a kiss.’
I turn to Logan, my eyes pleading, my face sweating, fanning myself with my hand. ‘Tell them. Please, tell them all the truth.’
‘It’s really over between us? You’re not just playing hard to get?’ Unbelievably it seems the penny still hasn’t dropped. Logan Hunter is used to getting what he wants. All the time.
‘Yes!’ I drag the short word out as far as I can, exasperated. ‘We are over. It’s done.’
Logan holds his head in his hands. ‘Seriously cannot believe you really won’t take me back, Gracie? Wow. Did not see that coming. You’ve really changed.’ Logan seems shellshocked, his ego bruised and battered. His tousled blond locks are indeed preened to perfection with gel, his well-manicured fingernails rest on his lip. He’s immaculately put together, despite saying he ‘rushed’ out first thing to find me.
